The wonderfully quaint village of Lacock is a must see for travelers who are heading to the area directly surrounding Bath Spa. Owned completely by the National Trust, Lacock is known for its unspoiled 12th century medieval beauty.
Despite cars parked outside, there are no visible power lines, satellites or anything to give away that it’s really the 21st century. Many films have been shot on location in Lacock–including some of my favourite, the Harry Potter series.
Now that you’re finished looking at the pictures of Lacock, travel with me to Bath Spa where you’ll see its Georgian splendour as well as the Royal Baths. Plus, visit the Neolithic site of Stonehenge with me as your host through England.
When I traveled to Cambodia with my family, it was one of the most incredible places I have ever seen. The nation has seen brutal genocide within the last 30 years and still suffers from child sex tourism and land mines placed during the Vietnam War.
With that being said, the people are some of the friendliest, most hospitable I have met on my travels. As well, the temple complexes spread out over the entire country are magnificent and will be featured in my upcoming series on Cambodia.
Enjoying my final morning in York, I slowly made my way to the train station and caught my connection into London’s King’s Cross Station. Sadly, despite many attempts to ask people where platform 9 and 3/4 existed, nobody could tell me where the fake homage to Harry Potter was.
Seriously, there’s a small corner of the train station where a trolley is disappearing into the wall. Great for one of those goofy tourism photos.
Instead of being helpful, tourism information officers looked at me as if I was an idiot who believed the platform actually existed. From King’s Cross, I stepped into the Tube station and quickly learned that maintenance crews were doing weekend work on the train lines. Sigh.
For someone who had only been on the London Underground once (and didn’t pay attention), I was thrown into one of the first serious “problems” of my trip. As much as I needed to know how to get to my hostel, I was worried I wouldn’t be able to see all London’s attractions. That would quickly fade away as there are other ways to get to the main sights.
After asking an unhelpful Tube guard how I should get to Great Portland Street, the answer was that I was to find a bus that would take me there. Some people are so incredibly helpful.
When looking at my Tube map every which way, I soon realized I could ride a different line to my stop and then have to walk an extra two blocks to YHA Central London youth hostel. On arrival, once again, I was too early for check in and left my bag in a downstairs storage closet along with almost a hundred other bags.
Back at the Tube station, some quick route adjustments had me on my train heading towards Trafalgar Square. Alas, the famous square crowned by the Nelson Column was way to busy for my enjoyment and I snapped what pictures I needed and started walking towards the old district of Westminster where I saw Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
After crossing Westminster Bridge, seeing the London Eye along the way, I was too late to photograph the Houses of Parliament from their more well known side as the light was wrong for the best image. Once again, crossing the bridge, I visited the outside of Westminster Abbey, because the line up was much too crazy for me to even think of getting a good visit before closing.
Today being Saturday, I knew Westminster Abbey would be closed for tourists on Sunday and that I would have to return on Monday. On one of the longest walks of my trip, I walked back through Piccadilly Circus and Leicester Square to my hostel where I called it a night.
Just after the sun rose the next day, I was ready and waiting at the Tube station for my train that would zip me over to Tower Hill. Though it was only my second day in London, traveling by Underground was already old hat.
While I had seen the Tower of London on a previous trip, I didn’t have the heart to fork over the expensive admission rate and instead, enjoyed walking under Tower Bridge and through the modern docks.
Having seen enough of the much photographed bridge, I took the Underground over to St. Paul’s Cathedral, which is the seat of the Anglican Church. While one of the most beautiful churches I had ever seen, I could not seem to get over the cathedral’s revolving door.
That next day, my new found friend Guillermo, this air head from Texas named Joanne and I hit the Underground to Victoria Station. I waited for an hour at the theatre across the street for tickets to Wicked while Joanne bumbled around trying to get a train ticket.
Note for travelers. If you are interested in getting front row seats to some of the older plays, check with the stand at Leicester Square to see if there is a deal on with the theatres. Wicked, for example, sells its front row seats for 30 pounds to those brave theatre goers who wait in line before the theatre opens.
After securing my ticket and carefully putting it in the most protected spot in my wallet, Joanne and Guillermo to Buckingham Palace. In a strange turn of events, Joanne said she was not impressed with the palace from what she saw.
I quickly pointed out to her that she was looking at the back entrance for maintenance crews; all she could say to this was “Oh, yeah I knew that.” Face palm indeed.
Once again, the line at Westminster Abbey was much too unwieldily for any enjoyment, so we traveled to St. Paul’s Cathedral once again so I could climb to the top. I quickly learned that you can get the same view from the top of St. Paul’s Cathedral than you can at the highest point on the London Eye.
Joanne took a picture of the cathedral and couldn’t be bothered even to stand close to the magnificent building designed by Sir Christopher Wren. Knowing that I couldn’t let a lame wad ruin one of the last days of my trip, I paid entrance and hauled myself up all 352 stairs to the very top of the cathedral.While the view was incredible, the wind was nerve wracking.
If my day was spent hanging out with Guillermo, who was actually quite a nice guy, I would have had a great time. Alas, Joanne’s ho-hum attitude and boredom got me down and at the British Museum, we quickly parted ways.
I enjoyed spending hours at the British Museum reading much of the history and seeing as many different exhibits as I could. For those looking for a fantastic trip through the ages, start with the Egyptian exhibits, followed the the Assyrian, Greek, Roman, Celtic and Viking exhibits.
As I had given an entire day for the British Museum, I left its wonders behind at closing time and had a quick bite to eat before taking in Wicked, which would be one of the most incredible shows I had ever seen. The next day, I am taking a train to Oxford.
Once you step out onto the road, Tolkien was right. Travelers have no idea where they are going to be swept off to.
It’s a dangerous business, Frodo, going out your door. You step onto the road, and if you don’t keep your feet, there’s no knowing where you might be swept off to.”
These words are often quoted by travelers and Lord of the Rings fans alike for they are linked by the true spirit of what traveling and adventure means to so many people.
Spoken at the beginning of the Fellowship of the Ring, Bilbo Baggins was teaching his nephew Frodo about the spirit of adventure, not knowing in the slightest the adventure Frodo would come to have with the One Ring.
For the sake of this article, imagine yourself as Bilbo Baggins prior to his adventure to the Lonely Mountain. For decades, he lived out his life unaware about the world outside his round hobbit style door. Today and in our world, there are many who live lives such as these, afraid or unwilling to leave what they know.
Waking up late at my hostel in Berwick-Upon-Tweed, I had to rush out the door to the train station or else I would have missed my train. Missing my train would have meant I would have lost three hours in York. Like a crazed fool, I ran down the road, making it to the train station with plenty of time to spare.
When my train trundled into York station, I enjoyed my first walk through town and stopped and watched traffic entering and exiting the bar, which means gate for the Vikings who once called this city home. I was pleasantly surprised to find that my hostel, Ace York, was in a renovated 18th century townhouse well known for its original beauty.
Hostel travelers, the Ace York is in a central location and beautifully renovated. In addition, the staff is friendly and helpful with any questions about the historic city.
Setting out along the walls of York, the ancient Minster loomed in the distance and made for some incredible photos; though beautiful to look upon, the cathedral felt even more breathtaking when the bells tolled. For those who saw the cathedral built 1,000 years ago, it would be just as majestic as it is today.
Visit Scotland with me and use me as your Inverness Scotland travel guide. After touring Inverness, visit Loch Ness and try to find the monster. Walk amongst the moors of Culloden Battlefield, the site of the 1746 siege between Jacobite forces and the English redcoats.
Having left the city of Edinburgh–sadly without my hat–I got on board the train to Stonehaven, Scotland. I am on my way to one of the most beautiful castles in Scotland, which lies on a precarious cliff outside the tiny village.
Not long after getting off the Edinburgh train, I learned that the castle was a fair ways outside Stonehaven. The ticket agent at the train station ordered me a taxi cab who then proceeded to rip me off with his fare.
Eight pounds both ways to get to a castle less than 10 minutes away. However, he gave me a tour of the town on the way back. He assured me the detour was just to show off his home town and not to increase the fare. He was correct and the village was beautiful.
Dunnottar Castle lies on the cliffside high above the tumultous ocean. Before the fortress was destroyed by Jacobite forces, it witnessed the likes of William Wallace and Oliver Cromwell’s eight month siege as he tried to regain the Honours of Scotland. What a storied history, indeed.
In order to get to the castle, travellers descend a long steep set of stairs and then you climb up another staircase as the main keep lies on the crag. Today the castle is beautifully situated, but in the 16th century, it must have been easy to defend, but also simple to siege as well.
It was hard to climb the stairs to the castle with my backpacks on, but it was definitely well worth the long haul. I paid my entrance fee and spent as long as I could at the castle. In fact I peered out of every tower and ascended every winding staircase that I could.
In Edinburgh Scotland, tour the underground Edinburgh vaults or shiver at the haunted graveyard tours of Edinburgh. Edinburgh is one of the most haunted cities of Europe and even for scaredy cats, the Edinburgh graveyard tours Greyfriars graveyard tours/vault tours are a must see.
My trip to Edinburgh Scotland started with a longer walk than I would have hoped. No taxi would take me to the train station across the bridge. It was 7:00 in the morning and I had to take the long walk back down into Conwy, North Wales. Before arriving at Llandudno station, I had to walk through town, across the long bridge and up through the seaside village of Llandudno.
I was utterly exhausted on the train. My feet weren’t healed from walking the previous days and I enjoyed the chance to sit on the train and watch Scotland come closer. For those who are worried or nervous about taking trains throughout Great Britain, it is incredibly easy and I highly recommend it for people wanting to see as much of England, Scotland and Wales as possible.
This will be my second time being in Edinburgh and I was doubly excited to explore the city on my own. With my two bags on, I walked towards the Grass Market to find my hostel. Interestingly, it was in this district where the population used to watch public hangings for sport. My hostel is in an old art gallery and is beautiful. The Grass Market is a perfect district for tourists wanting to see as much of the Royal Mile as possible. It’s only 10 minutes away from the castle and you can see it from the hostel windows.
One can only spend so long in the hostel when there’s an entire city to explore and I made my way up the Royal Mile towards Edinburgh Castle. Built on the volcanic outcropping, Edinburgh Castle is naturally fortified and was only captured once when Scottish soldiers climbed the rocks in the dead of night to retake their keep.
I had seen Edinburgh Castle on a previous trip, thus some of the castle’s original magic had gone. Instead of paying the admission price again, I enjoyed taking pictures of the castle from the Princess Street cemeteries.
After taking photos, I called it quits for the day, but not before going out for some beer with an Australian friend I made. We made it an early night because I had to be up early the next day for my trip to Rosslyn Chapel.
We made it an early night. Right when the sun rose, I was up and excited for what the day would bring. I walked three blocks to my bus stop in a confusing district called Toll Cross. Little did I know that there were at least four bus stops on each side of the road.
Some of you might very well remember Rosslyn Chapel as the name of the church where Mary Magdalene rested in the Da Vinci Code. Although the entrance to the chapel was expensive, I have never been to a more incredible stone carved church.
I sat in the pews for hours wondering about the secret St. Clair tomb unopened for 250 years under the floor and marvelled at the carvings of maize and other templar symbols.
Hello everyone; welcome back to Traveling with Krushworth. For those of you don’t know I work as a community journalist in Southern Alberta. I write for the Crowsnest Pass Promoter as well as the Pincher Creek Echo. Some pretty wacky things happen to me, but there are some tales that seem to top all ordinary comical stories.
While waiting for a late night Peigan Cowboys hockey game to start, I decided to take the long, windy road to the Twin Butte General Store for some of the best Mexican food around these parts. Certainly muy bueno for a place that if you blink, you miss it.
Alas, the night I set out for some good old fashioned chimichangas was indeed a blustery one. Wind howled bout my car, whirling dervishes of white dancing in the frigid air outside. Little did I know, but I would soon be mistaken for the web crawling wonder himself. Huh!
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Bath Spa, England – - – Photos, Stories and Traveling with Krushworth episode
York, England – - – Photos, Stories and Traveling with Krushworth episode
Chepstow, South Wales – - – Photos, Stories and Traveling with Krushworth episode
Conwy, North Wales – - – Photos, Stories and Traveling with Krushworth episode
Edinburgh, Scotland – - – Photos, Stories and Traveling with Krushworth episode
Inverness, Scotland – - – Photos, Stories and Traveling with Krushworth episode
Berwick, England – - – Photos, Stories and Traveling with Krushworth episode
